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Bobwhite quail decline may lead to changes in regulations

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With the state climatologist saying Texas is undergoing the worst single-year dry spell in 116 years, bobwhite quail — already suffering a long-term decline — are getting a double whammy.

Poor range conditions mean less to eat, which almost eliminated hatches in most areas across the state. Hunters can expect fewer birds during the statewide quail season, which opens Saturday and runs through Feb. 26.

That liberal season, in effect since 1984, may change next year.

With Texas Parks & Wildlife Department officials doing as much as they can with landowners and conservation groups to improve habitat, they are looking at another tool to combat the quail decline.

An agenda item at Wednesday’s meeting of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission’s regulatory committee will provide a heads-up that recommendations for the 2012-13 season will be presented at the Jan. 25-26 meeting.

Staff will formulate recommendations that could range from keeping quail regulations the same to zone changes in season lengths and bag limits.

“There are big differences across the state with a lot of different needs,” TPWD upland game bird program leader Robert Perez said. “But there is no silver bullet, no one thing, that will help quail, and we don’t expect hunting regulations alone will be the answer. We still have to focus on habitat, and that will be the key message.”

To illustrate regional differences, Perez pointed out that while quail production in the Rolling Plains in North Texas hit an all-time low this year, rains along the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes region around Goliad, Refugio and Victoria produced some of the highest counts ever.

An annual field survey shows bobwhite breeding numbers declining at 3.9 percent a year from 1970-2009 with the harvest down by 80 percent over the last three decades.

The numbers of hunters reflect quail population trends, with some 130,000 per year in the 1980s and about 47,000 during the 2010-11 season.

Perez, though, encourages quail hunters to go afield.

“We want people to go out and enjoy the outdoors, to work their dogs. Quail hunters love shotguns, love bird dogs and love the experience,” he said. “For them, it’s never been about filling the bag. We just want people to know the species is having a hard time.”

Quail hunters historically have been self-regulating, being careful to not overharvest when the population is down, Perez said.

He advises hunters to keep an eye on the numbers in the coveys they encounter and not shoot too many birds from small coveys.

“Don’t chase a bunch of singles,” he said. “Let them get back together. A covey wants to be at 11 birds, and they need those numbers for body heat at night. You might want to pass on a covey that only has five to eight birds.”

Blue quail, whose reproduction does not fluctuate as much, are holding their own in some parts of the Trans Pecos.

The good news is that quail populations can soar when the conditions are right, although no end to the drought is seen in long-range forecasts.

“Bobwhite quail are remarkably resilient,” Perez said. “They survived the droughts in the 1950s and the ’90s. They hole up in pockets of habitat, and when things change, they seem to sprout like weeds.”

John Goodspeed is a freelance outdoors writer and photographer. Email john@johngoodspeed.com.